Joel Dillingham, Class of 1993
Waupaca native Joel Dillingham, a 6-foot-2 guard, finished his basketball career at Lawrence as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,554 points. He saw other teams throw the kitchen sink at him, but he averaged 18.1 points per game for his career and earned All-Midwest Conference honors three times. Dillingham shot a respectable 41.1 percent from the floor, including 41.4 percent on 3-pointers, and 77.7 percent from the free-throw line.
Dillingham teammate and current Lawrence associate head men's basketball coach Pat Juckem '94, says that teams geared their defensive efforts toward stopping Dillingham. "That, and the fact he still put up impressive numbers, tells you how complete a player he was," Juckem says.
Dillingham, who started 85 of 86 games, holds seven other school records: career field goals (500), career field goals attempted (1,217), career three-pointers (212), career three-pointers attempted (512), career free throws made (342), and three-pointers in a game (8).
He finished his career with a bang, scoring a career-high 38 points in his final game, a 93-79 win against Lake Forest College. He led the Vikings to a 13-9 record in 1992-93 and broke the career scoring record of 1,342 set by Doug Fyfe '76, with 12 points in an 81-67 victory over Grinnell. He earned first-team all-conference honors for the second straight year in 1993. Dillingham averaged 18.2 points per game as a junior and earned first-team all-conference status for the first time. He led the team in scoring in 17 of its 22 games and scored a season-high 31 points in an 80-57 victory over Lakeland College.
He played his first two seasons with another scoring sensation, guard Matt Miota '91. As a freshman, Dillingham poured in 16.3 points per game, which was second on the team, and averaged 3.4 rebounds per contest. Led by Dillingham and Miota, the Vikings finished 13-9. Head coach Mike Gallus said of Dillingham, "He has stepped into a starting position immediately and played beautifully. He works so hard on defense. It probably takes a little away from his offense, but that just shows how team-oriented Joel is."
Dillingham earned all-conference honors for the first time after his sophomore season in 1991, when he was chosen for the second team. He averaged 17.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game that season.
Dillingham and his wife, Chris, live in Hudson. A biology major at Lawrence, he works as the corporate safety manager at Valspar Corporation in Minneapolis, Minn.
Bruce Larson, Class of 1949
Bruce Larson stood at the front of a great generation of Lawrence athletes in the 1940s. The native of Racine starred in football and basketball, and every one of his teams was a winner. Larson, who played center and linebacker for the football squad, helped the Vikings to consecutive Midwest Conference championships in 1946 and 1947. During his three seasons, all as a starter, the Lawrence football team posted an impressive 20-3-1 record. A forward on the basketball team, Larson was a key to the Vikings posting three consecutive winning seasons, with a record of 30-24.
Larson came to Lawrence at the prompting of one of his high school instructors and coaches, George Walter '36. The choice proved beneficial for both the Lawrence football and basketball teams.
Larson earned first-team All-Midwest Conference football honors as a junior and senior. A powerful blocker on the offensive line, he opened gaping holes for backfield greats like Carl Giordana '48, Dick Flom '48, and Don Boya '50 (all previous Hall of Fame inductees). As a linebacker, Larson, who wore No. 24, was known as a tough defender against the prevalent running games of the time.
On the basketball court, he was a three-year starter on some solid Lawrence squads. One of his early basketball highlights came on January 20, 1948, when the Appleton Post-Crescent credited him with sparking a come-from-behind rally that led to Lawrence's 49-47 win at Ripon College. Larson, who led the team in scoring during the 1947-48 season, scored a career-high 18 points in a 55-40 upset of Coe College in 1948 and tied that career high the following season in a 63-44 rout of Lake Forest College.
Larson, who had three sons, worked for 30-plus years for American Can before retiring to Florida. He died in May 1998.
Jiayi (Diana) Ling, Class of 1994
Diana Ling went where no Lawrence woman — or man for that matter — had gone before. She became the school's first national champion when she won the long jump at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships in 1994, the pinnacle of a stellar track and field career. The native of Albuquerque, N.M., was a three-time All-American and a 14-time Midwest Conference champion. She continues to hold nine school records.
The crowning moment of her career came at the national indoor meet at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. She won the long jump with a jump of 18 feet, 9.5 inches, setting a school record in the process. There are two amazing things about that victory — she won by a whopping 8.5 inches over second-place Dionne Laffond of Westfield State College and five of Ling's six jumps that day would have won her the title.
Ling earned All-America honors two more times in the long jump, taking third at the 1992 NCAA outdoor championships and fourth at the 1993 national indoor championships. She also qualified for the NCAA championships two more times.
She holds nine Lawrence records, including indoors and outdoors in the long jump (18-9.5 indoors, 19-0.5 outdoors) and triple jump (36-9 indoors, 37-5 outdoors). A superlative sprinter, she has the school records indoors in the 55 meters (7.48 seconds) and 200 (27.05 seconds) and is part of the record-holding 800 relay team. Outdoors, she continues to hold the 100-meter record (12.36 seconds) and is part of the record-holding 400 relay team.
Ling simply dominated the competition in the Midwest Conference. She won a conference title at all but one of the eight conference championships in which she competed and capped her career in style in 1994 by winning five conference championships. At the conference's indoor meet, Ling won the long jump, triple jump, and 55 meters. She then captured the long jump and triple jump at the outdoor meet.
Ling lives in Sacramento, Calif., with her husband, Shih-wen Yang, and is an assistant professor of art and new media at American River College.
Lincoln Saito, Class of 1970
Lawrence University has never seen a winner like Lincoln Saito. In his three-year wrestling career, Saito put together a record of 43-2, and his .956 winning percentage still stands as the school record. He ended his career third on the school's all-time wins list. In addition, he won three Midwest Conference championships and twice wrestled in the NCAA Championships.
Lawrence Director of Athletics Bernie Heselton (a 1996 inductee into the Hall of Fame) was quoted as saying that Saito was "very possibly the best wrestler in Lawrence history."
As a sophomore in 1967-68, he went unbeaten through the season and finished off the competition at the Midwest Conference Championships by pinning Carleton College's Lance Craighead for the title at 130 pounds. Named the Most Valuable Performer at the conference meet, he qualified for the NCAA College Division Championships and posted a 1-1 record.
A knee injury sidelined him for nearly all of his junior year. He wrestled only two matches prior to the conference championships, but that didn't stop him from winning another title. A story in The Lawrentian said that "the knee injury necessitated a drastic change in his wrestling style." The style may have been different, but the results were the same. Saito beat Monmouth College's John White 6-5 for the title at 130 pounds.
Saito again went unbeaten through his senior season. He won the Midwest Conference title by pinning his opponent from St. Olaf College in the finals at 126 pounds. Again he advanced to the NCAA Championships, where he began the competition with a pair of victories. He beat Dean Gipp of Luther College 8-1 in the opening round and then won by default over Duane Nichol of Eastern Illinois in the second round. Saito's run came to an end in the third round, when Gayle Tolifson of Western State of Colorado beat him in overtime.
Saito is one of three Lawrence wrestlers to win three Midwest Conference titles, joining Bob Smith '61 (1959-61), and Jerry Nightingale '68 (1965-66 '68). He was the first Viking to qualify for the NCAA Championships more than once and one of only six Lawrence wrestlers who are multiple qualifiers.
Saito, who majored in psychology at Lawrence, worked as a teacher, counselor, coach, and administrator at the K-12 level for three decades in Alaska before retiring. He returned to education four years ago as director of the Chuchi Campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Rural Alaska. Saito and his wife, Linda, live in Kotzebue, Alaska, and have six children.
Graham Satherlie, Class of 1982
When Graham Satherlie wasn't blanketing receivers on the gridiron, he was tracking down fly balls in the outfield. A two-sport standout, Satherlie earned All-Midwest Conference honors in football and baseball and was an All-American in football.
A four-year starter in the defensive backfield, the Northfield, Ill., native was part of one of the most successful eras of Lawrence football. The Vikings went 34-5 during his four seasons and won three consecutive Midwest Conference championships (1979-81). Satherlie intercepted 22 passes during his career, which is good for second on the school's career list. He enjoyed his finest football season as a senior in 1981, when the Vikings went 10-1, won the Midwest Conference title, and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III playoffs. He picked off nine passes and recorded a team-leading 99 tackles. Satherlie earned first-team all-conference honors and received honorable mention on the Associated Press All-America team.
As a junior in 1980, he recorded eight interceptions, was named first-team all-conference, and earned second-team Pizza Hut All-America honors. He set the Lawrence record for interceptions in a game when he picked off four passes in a 22-6 win at Beloit College. Lawrence finished the season 8-1 and won the league title.
Satherlie, who started all but the first game of his Lawrence career, intercepted five passes over his first two seasons, and the most memorable was another against Beloit. He picked off a Buccaneer aerial and returned in 43 yards for a touchdown in Lawrence's 28-0 shutout of the Bucs at the Banta Bowl in 1979. Satherlie's play drew the attention of the National Football League, and he tried out with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, and Baltimore Colts.
A three-year starter in baseball, Satherlie was a career .353 hitter and made only four errors in the outfield for a career .972 fielding percentage. He was again part of a very successful team, as the Vikings won the 1980 Midwest Conference title and put together a record of 39-35-2 during his career.
Satherlie played in 71 games over his three seasons, pounding out 67 hits, including five doubles, three triples, and nine homers. The 1982 team captain scored 58 runs, drove in 51, and swiped 33 bases.
He batted .271 as a sophomore in 1980, but that was merely a warm-up for the 1981 season, when he led the team in hitting with a .413 batting average. Satherlie had ten extra-base hits, including a team-high five homers, on his way to a .707 slugging percentage. He also showed his prowess in the outfield by tying the team record of four outfield assists.
Satherlie capped his career with another fine season in 1982 and was a first-team all-conference selection. He led his team in hitting again by batting .357 with four homers and 16 runs batted in.
A psychology major at Lawrence, Satherlie today is the owner of Accurate Products, a Chicago-based manufacturer and distributor of custom rubber products. He and his wife, Meg, have two children, Greer and Duncan.
Carl Schwendler, Class of 1959
Carl Schwendler was the consummate Lawrence University athlete of the 1950s. The native of Appleton was a gifted performer in three sports and respected by teammates and coaches alike. Schwendler starred in football, wrestling, and track and earned the maximum (for the time) of nine letters. He was a grinder on the offensive and defensive lines for the football team, playing both guard and tackle, and was a three-year starter. He was consistently described as a player who did the dirty work, the vital work that goes unnoticed.
Schwendler, who was team captain in 1958, earned All-Midwest Conference honors twice at guard. He was a second-team pick as a junior in 1957 and a first-team selection in 1958. A three-year letterwinner in wrestling, Schwendler also served as team captain. A two-time placewinner at the Midwest Conference Championships, he wrestled primarily at 191 pounds but also wrestled at heavyweight as a sophomore.
He took fourth at 191 at the conference championships in 1958 but turned in his best finish as a senior in 1959, when he went 3-1, picking up a pair of pins in the process, and took third place at 191.
Schwendler spent his springs competing for the Lawrence track team and served as a team captain. He competed in several field events, but his specialty was the javelin. He placed in the javelin at the Midwest Conference Championships all three years.
Competing for the top spot against talented teammate John Winsor '58, Schwendler took fourth in the javelin with a toss of 158 feet in 1957. He was fourth again in 1958 with a throw of 174-11 and grabbed third place in 1959 with a throw of 174-3.
Schwendler, who studied mathematics and psychology at Lawrence, spent nearly 40 years as a math teacher at Ashwaubenon High School and Beloit Memorial High School and also taught at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and St. Norbert College before retiring. He coached football, wrestling, and track at the prep level. He also spent 1962-67 in the Marine Corps and served a tour of duty in Vietnam.
He and his wife, Linda, have been married for 42 years and have two children.
